


Seventeen Girl

by twoteencarat



Category: PRISTIN (Band), SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Comedy, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2018-12-12 21:13:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11745303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twoteencarat/pseuds/twoteencarat
Summary: Bae Cami is a loveable, caring girl with a passion for dance. Her hard work and dedication pay off when she becomes the newest member of rookie group, Seventeen. How will she deal with an idol lifestyle, a crush she shouldn't have and the general craziness that comes with being the only girl among 13 boys?





	1. Chapter 1

Sitting anxiously in anticipation, the whole class watches the clock as the seconds tick by. When the bell rings a wave of relief washes over the room. 

Summer is here. 

The other students file out the room before Miss Black can even finish saying goodbye. I don't forget the small decorated box in my bag that contains her going away present.

"Thanks for all the good years, Miss. Good luck at your new school!" She looks at the gift in her hands and smiles. "You're too kind, Cami. Have a good summer, dear."

 Hot male teachers in their mid to late 20s are the only ones who get appreciated by students here, but that's bound to happen in an all girl's school. 

Just down the hall is Mum's classroom. She's usually got a ton of stuff to take home this time of year so I help her out. We carry the heavy load together to the car, then begin the drive home.

"Did you have a good year, Camille?" Mum asks, with the persistent use of my full name. 

"Yeah, pretty good." I lie. Where my grades will tell of a terrific year academically, I tell a different story. If you're not like 99.9% of girls at this school, you're basically nothing in their eyes.

Rutherford School for Girls is one of the top private schools in London, even in the whole country. So many people dream of going here, yet the school's vast resources are wasted on high class prima donnas who never take a minute to appreciate what they have. I've been called peasant girl, pauper and sewer rat because I'm the middle-class needle in the wealthy haystack of Rutherford students, who can only afford to go to this school because her mum teaches here. Despite the fact I eat 3 square meals a day and have a nice place to come home to, in their eyes I'm poor because I can't afford 2 Lambos a week with my allowance. Most of them wouldn't know poverty if it stared them in the face.

  
Poverty is having to go to a school that can barely afford desks for their pupils, or to even pay the teachers. That's the kind of school my mum went to at my age. If one teacher hadn't seen academic excellence in her and asked for her to be enrolled in an English scholarship program, she wouldn't be where she is today. I guess that's why I can stand the spiteful comments that come daily from the majority of the student body and appreciate the good teachers.

 

The car pulls up into the driveway of our home. I head inside and put Mum's stuff down in her and Dad's shared office before going to my room. I've been completely over the moon lately, having to stop myself from breaking into hysterics in class because of how many people watched my latest dance cover.

It's still there. Over a million views. The numbers under the video assure me it wasn't a dream. My cover of BTS' Dope has caught the attention of more than two million pairs of eyes.

Maybe BTS has seen it. Maybe Yoongi has seen it. 

Nah that's stupid.

I never would have expected this much when my dad took me to my first dance lesson. I've been hooked on dance ever since and an old spare room soon became my second home as a homemade dance studio. Kpop just fuelled my obsession even more - the only thing better than dancing is dancing to great music.

I should start thinking of a thank you video to celebrate the momentous occasion. But it's almost been 2 weeks since I've checked my emails, so I'll do that first. My inbox doesn't look that crazy, but the sender of one of these emails takes me aback.

 

_To Bae Cami and/or their parents/carers,_

_Your most popular YouTube video has caught the attention of some of our workers. We've looked at your other dance videos and we think you have real potential. We would be interested in you working under our company in one of our rookie groups, Seventeen. Please contact us soon if you would be interested._

_Yours sincerely,  
Pledis Entertainment._

This can't be happening.

"MUM!" I nearly tumble down the stairs, laptop in hand, just to share the good news. My mother gives me a puzzled look when the living room door gets kicked open. "Look! Look!" I shove the laptop into her hands and she reads over the letter.

"This is great news dear! But it is a very big decision, so we have to wait until your father comes home." Mum is cautious, but seems happy about the news overall.

Dad's gonna be ecstatic, he's always so happy when I talk about dance stuff with him. 

So I guess it's time to do some research on my future teammates. A quick Google search leads me to some group pictures. It's a boy group, interesting. A girl in a boy group is something completely unheard of in the industry, but I guess Pledis is going for something different. Most fathers would strongly resent the idea of their teenage daughter being around thirteen boys 24/7, but I'm sure Dad will understand.  One of them kind of looks familiar...

Is that Seungkwan? 

Memories of Jeju summers at my grandparents’ house, playing with the boy next door, come flooding back. I remember counting down the days until summer rolled in, counting the days until I'd get to see my best friend. Summer wasn't as sweet after he left. The answer to the question I asked myself for years, was only a few types away. So this is where he went. 

  
A warm feeling settles into my heart though, knowing this is what all those talent shows and school musicals he loved so much led to. My only friend is an actual idol. 

The sound of a door opening catches my ear. "I'm back! Where are my girls?" A classic family hug ensues, forehead kisses and all, to welcome Dad home.

I don't forget that he needs to be informed about the matter at hand. "Sit down! Sit down! I have great news!" After filling him in on the the situation, I show him the email to seal the deal. 

"I always knew you were talented hun, but wow!" He grins with pride. "This is a big decision to make, are you sure?"

"I don't think I've ever been so sure of anything in my entire life."

"But Seoul is so far away dear." Mum worries.

"I'll be fine, Mum. I know it's gonna be difficult but this is a once in a lifetime oppurtunity. If I don't take it I'll regret it for the rest of my life. I'll even get to see Seungkwan again. Please?"

Mum and Dad look at each other then back to me. They both nod.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll make you guys proud, I promise!" I jump up and down in glee before smothering both of my parents in an intensely tight hug. 

When I let go, Dad begins to type in the number at the bottom of the email into his phone. I can't believe it, I'm to be in a kpop group. This is a dream come true!


	2. Chapter 2

"Are you ready?" Dad asks me as he, Mum and I look upon the concrete building that towers over us.

PLEDIS ENTERTAINMENT

I close my eyes and inhale deeply, preparing to dive into the deep end. "Yeah, let’s go."

Pledis wanted me here quickly so we agreed to take the flight they arranged, which left in two days. It's a huge gesture considering how much tickets cost, they must be expecting a lot from me. The start of summer is the perfect time to set off on this adventure, as Mum and I have no school responsibilities and Dad can easily take a week off work. I spent these two days strategically packing my things and finding out more about the group I'm about to be in.

It was tricky trying to figure out how much research to do on Seventeen, I don't want to look like a stalker, but I don't want to look like I don't care either. Learning everyone's stage and real names seemed like the best option. They all looked so kind and friendly in their pictures, I'm sure we'll get along.

The day of our flight comes around so it's goodbye to our family home and time to go to the airport. I wonder how long it'll be until I see our house again. Our airplane is half an hour away from take-off when we arrive so we have plenty of time to check in and find our seats. 

During the flight, I planned to listen to 17 Carat, but it was impossible to get past the second song. It was so catchy! How did I listen to one song for 10 hours straight? I probably know Adore U off by heart now.

 

When we land in Seoul a driver is waiting for us near the airport exit holding a sign with my name on it, ready to take us to our hotel. It's amazing to be in the well-known capital city since my only previous experiences of South Korea have been a small, island province. The sky-high buildings are so tall they appear to scrape against the night sky, a sight I'm quite familiar with, having lived in London my whole life. It'll be fun to settle into a new city.

Eventually, we arrive at our destination and some bellboys appear on cue to help us take our bags. The hotel is clearly five star as it showcases its numerous awards in the foyer with pride. Mum and Dad will be staying for the week in case I chicken out and want to go home, but that's not going to happen. After settling in our room and unpacking, it's straight to bed. My dreams overflow with visions of me and my new teammates.

 

Now we're here, at an actual Korean entertainment company. Up until this point, it would have been possible for all of this to have just been a dream. The only indication of this being cold, hard reality is the feeling of dread that settles in my stomach.

Do I really expect us all to get along like some characters in a children's show? Am I really going to go in there with the mentality of a 5-year-old on their first day of school? It's wrong of me to assume everyone will like me just because I'm the newbie. What's so likeable about me? They'll probably just hate me like everyone at my school did. They're way out of my league, no one would want a loser like me in their group.  Why do I expect Seungkwan and I to have some kind of happy reunion? It's been years since we last saw each other. I probably only remember him because he was my only friend, but it's not going to be like that the other way around. He's probably forgotten all about me.

Of course, I make this realisation just as we enter the building. Mum and Dad give our names to a receptionist who gets another member of staff to lead us to the meeting and to my inevitable doom. We stop at one of the identical pairs of doors in a long hallway. A foamy mixture of fear bubbles up inside of me as the person opens the door for us to enter.

 

The room must be huge considering the number of people inside. There are four tables arranged in a rectangular formation. At the top table is the man I assume to be the CEO since he sits in the biggest chair and shares his table with no one. On the left are an array of adults who are possibly PDs or other important people. On the right are thirteen boys sat neatly in a row having a multitude of conversations between themselves. I don't dare make eye contact with any of them.

Silence takes over as everyone becomes aware of us entering. We sit in the three seats on a table directly across from the CEO. 

"Welcome!" He greets us, cheerfully. He gets straight to formalities, going over the application which was sent for me to fill in with my email, and he checks all the information in it is true. After this, a contract is brought out which all three of us read while the CEO explains its features. When Mum and Dad agree on everything in it, they allow me to sign. Hurriedly, I scribble my signature onto the document. I might as well have signed my own death certificate. The CEO rejoices joyfully, "We're very happy to have you Cami!"

 

After this, our attention is brought to people on our left. There are three PDs, two producers, two choreographers and a stylist who Mum and Dad question about all the things I'll do on a daily basis as an idol. It's hard to listen when my brain decides to dig me into a deeper pit of despair. Mum gives me a little nudge when she sees I'm distracted, so I push the negative thoughts into the back of my mind and listen to what one of the choreographers has to say.

"The most important thing about this group is that we want our members to be responsible for their own careers. We're really just here to check that all your work is up to standard and add a few bits if they're needed. For example, Hoshi does most of the group's choreography." The blonde haired boy they refer to waves over at us. giving one of the brightest smiles I've ever seen. Somehow, his soft facial expression steadies my heartbeat and calms my nerves. I put on a small smile and shyly wave back. Maybe he won't hate me.

 

After a few more minutes of questions and answers, the CEO speaks up. "You've heard enough from us boring adults, why don't you spend some time with the boys?" 

Oh no. 

"Yes sir!" They respond in unison, before filing out the room. My body stays frozen in my seat. 

"Come on Cami, go say hi to your new teammates." Dad persuades me. 

"But don't you guys need me here?" I make up an excuse on the spot. 

"We'll be fine, dear." Mum assures me. "Now, run along." I manage to peel myself out of the chair and slowly walk towards the door.

 

They're going to beat me up. They're going to beat me up, and if I don't die I can't run home like a little baby because now I've signed a contract. So I either stay here and hate my life or try to escape and get my parents caught in a legal battle which'll cost thousands and they'll hate me for wasting their time and money. Why did I check my email? Why didn't I just let it pile up like I always do? Then none of this would have happened.

I finally walk out the door and close it behind me, looking down so I don't face the thirteen people who will probably assault me. Seungkwan slowly starts to approach me and I close my eyes. I can't believe my own best friend is going to be the first person to beat me up. My breath halts as I expect to feel some sort of pain.

Instead, he wraps his arms around me.

 

"Hi. I missed you." Seungkwan mumbles quietly. A grin crawls onto my face and I can't resist the urge to pick him up and spin him around while declaring joyfully:

"I missed you too!"


	3. Chapter 3

"Put me down! You're so clingy honestly!" Seungkwan protests against the vice-like grip I continue to hold him in. 

"Well excuse me but it's been ages since I last saw you!" I retaliate.

Remembering the other 12 people around me I let go of Seungkwan. "Hi everyone! It's nice to meet you all!" I introduce myself cheerfully. A bunch of greetings come my way along with gestures that range from handshakes to hugs and anything inbetween.

"Are you the girl Seungkwan always t-" Seokmin may have been asking me a question but Seungkwan quickly puts his hand over his mouth before he can finish.

"Oh yeah! When Seungkwan first came all he talked about was his cool dancer friend from London." Seungkwan facepalms after Vernon reveals the secret he was trying to hide. 

"Is that so?" I smirk smugly.

"I thought you were making it up, to be honest." Jihoon admits. Several others agree. Seungkwan hangs his head in shame as I go in for another hug.

"Aww, you really did miss me didn't you?" 

 

   
After being introduced to everyone, they show me around so I know where key places such as the studio and the dorm are. 

"How do you and Seungkwan know each other anyway?" Mingyu asks me as we all sit and talk in the dorm's living room. I've been trying to step out of my shell and have one on one conversations with all the boys to break the ice.

"Well my Dad is from Jeju so we go there every summer to visit my grandparents. Seungkwan's family lives next to my grandparent's house so we've been friends since we were little."

"That's so cute!" He squeals. Seungkwan stops his conversation with Minghao to turn around and glare at both of us, before returing to what he was saying. We both giggle once his head is turned.

"You should stay the night and we could have a slumber party to welcome you!" Mingyu suggests his idea with the excitement of a small child.

"That sounds like fun, if it's not too much trouble. I'll have to get my stuff though. Seungkwan come with me!" I plead.

"I don't have a choice do I?" I grab his hand and and walk out the dorm, answering his question. 

 

"So come on." I playfully poke him as we go back to the main building. "Spill! I want to know everything that's happened since the last time I saw you."

Seungkwan spends the duration of our journey telling me his adventure over the past few years. After winning a local talent show, he was scouted and given a chance to audition for many different entertainment companies before choosing to train under Pledis.

"It was really scary coming here and not knowing anyone, you're so lucky! I think I became closest with Vernon since he didn't seem that intimidating and we're the same age. He's actually half American and speaks English so you two have a lot in common." Maybe I won't stick out as much as I thought I would.

We see Mum and Dad waiting with the driver right outside the main building. Their smiles grow even brighter when they see Seungkwan is with me. 

"Nice to see you, Seungkwan!" Dad pats him on the back and ruffles his hair.  

"You've grown so big!" Mum pinches his left cheek. Come to think of it, he's like their other child, as am I to Mr and Mrs Boo.

"Did you have fun Cami? Was everything okay? You seemed a little nervous before you went out." Mum worries.

"I'm fine, Mum. Everybody was really nice, they've even invited me for a sleepover!"

"Alright, make sure no funny business happens." Dad not so subtly whispers to Seungkwan.

"I heard that! Nothing like that is going to happen Dad, I'll be fine." 

Mum and Dad catch up with Seungkwan on the ride to the hotel. Once we arrive, Seungkwan and I rush in and out with all of my luggage.

"Have fun, you two!" Mum and Dad wish us goodbye as we speed back downstairs before the driver leaves.

 

As we get back, Seungkwan flings my bag into the room and urges me to get changed. I'm glad he wasn't carrying my laptop. 

But out of nowhere, he starts to pull down his trousers. "Um, Seungkwan?" Did he forget I'm here? After he takes off his shirt, I realise he's been wearing a pink unicorn onesie under his clothes all this time. 

"Nice." I comment. 

"Thanks." He says on his way out. 

 It was a good idea to throw my penguin onesie into my suitcase last minute. After changing, I go into the living room and everyone is wearing similar sleepwear and are gathered round the TV with several bowls of popcorn. I compliment Wonwoo and Mingyu on their matching panda slippers.

"Hey Cami! We we're gonna watch a horror movie, if that's okay with you of course." Vernon fills me in.

"That's fine, I  don't mind." I've never really been a fan of scary things but I'm not going to spoil everyone's fun. After I sit between him and Seungkwan the movie begins, with the lights off for an extra spooky effect.

The film seems to be about a group of friends who have to spend the night at a haunted manor after their car breaks down. If the scenes where the surviving friends find their other friend's tortured corpse weren't distressing enough, watching a character get dragged out of focus by an unknown creature to a hopelessly grizzly end, certainly is. 

Seungkwan throws bits of popcorn at me when he sees my horrified expression, bringing me back to reality. Miraculously, I manage not to have a nervous breakdown throughout the duration of the film but I won't be forgetting about it anytime soon.

"Well, that was fun. How about some stories?" Seungcheol suggests. Everyone shares their funniest tales filling the room with laughter, soon it's my turn.

"So Cami. Have you got any dirt on Seungkwan?" I'm sure Joshua is speaking for everyone when he asks. 

"Trust me, I do." 

After racking my brain, I think of the perfect embarrassing childhood story about my dear friend Seungkwan.

"Well. One time, out of nowhere, little Seungkwan decided he wanted to wear the same clothes as me. So he somehow convinced him and my mum to take us dress shopping. We went around in matching dresses for a week. I'm not saying you don't look good in a dress Seungkwan, but I don't think frilly baby pink suits you." 

No one can hold in the tears of laughter after I'm done, but Seungkwan already has a comeback prepared.

"Well. One time, little Cami decided she didn't really want to take a bath. So before her mum put her in she ran out the bathroom and out her house into the street, naked. She probably wouldn't have gotten as far as she did if it wasn't summer. So the whole neighbourhood searched around for an hour and I found little naked Cami up the tree in my backyard."

This now becomes a challenge between me and Seungkwan to see who can out-embarrass the other. At the end of the day, none of us win as 12 other people now know things we kept between each other to keep our prides intact.

After we both give in, a game of truth or dare develops. I don't dare underestimate the tasks that 13 boys can come up with so I go mostly truth.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No."

"Have you ever had a boyfriend?"

"No."

"Do you plan on getting a boyfriend?"

"No. Also that's 3 questions and I'm sensing a theme. Are you trying to suggest something, Jun?"

"Nah." He shrugs "Just curious."

"Well, between being a recluse and going to an all girls school, I never really had a chance to date. How about you guys, have any of you dated?"

The majority of people in the room raise their hands. "Look at you guys, getting the ladies." I playfully wink. "Of course your hand isn't up Seungkwan, who'd date you?"

"If you didn't roast me every chance you got, that would be great." He sighs.

"But where's the fun in that?" I bop his nose before he swats my hand away.

"It's not like they were serious relationships, and we're not dating anymore."  Wonwoo informs me.

"Well then we can all be single losers together."

As the game progresses more ridiculous questions and dares are answered and completed. When it's my turn again I decide 'why not?' and choose dare. Since it's Chan giving me my task, he can't do much damage.

"Hmm." He thinks. "I can't think of anything, so Seungkwan-hyung can do it."

Crap.

Without hesitation, Seungkwan brings out a slim rectangular box of Pepero.

Crap.

He spins the box inside our circle and the top end points towards Soonyoung when it stops.

Crap.

"The pepero has to be less than 3cm or you're both getting mayonnaise in your hair."

CRAP.

Soonyoung and I look at each other with the same fear in our eyes. I sigh and take a deep breath. "Ok, let's go. There's no way I'm getting mayonnaise in my hair. It takes me long enough to wash it normally."

"Same." Jeonghan comments.

Seungkwan hands me one of the sticks, at least it's strawberry.

I take one end, Soonyoung takes the other and slowly we work our way to the middle. I close my eyes and focus on the sweet berry flavour instead of panicking about how dangerously close our lips are. 

It feels like we're seconds away from kissing when Seungkwan finally tells us to stop. Soonyoung hands what's left of the stick to him. He uses a ruler to measure it.

"2.5cm. Wow, you guys even went the extra mile." Seungkwan teases.

"Shut up before I wring your neck. I'm just glad that's over."

I see Soonyoung's red face.

"Not that anyone wouldn't want to kiss you!"

He goes even redder.

"Not that I want to kiss you!"

Even redder still.

"You should probably stop before you break him." Seokmin laughs. I hide my face in my hands.

Crap.

 

The night winds down after that. We all wish each other goodnight before going to our respective dorms. No one wastes anytime climbing into their bed and that includes me. 

So, I snuggle under my sheets, ready for a good night's sleep, until I see a long spindly hand out the window. It's probably just a tree branch.

Or a hand coming to drag me out of bed, hang me on a hook by the nostrils and spill my guts like red jelly. Damn that stupid movie.

I drop out of my bed onto the floor and crawl towards Seungkwan. 

"Hey." I tap him gently. "Can I sleep with you?" 

"Was it the movie?" He asks. I nod.   
   
"Fine, come in." I pull myself up into the bed and settle next to him, lying back to back. "You didn't have to watch it if you were going to get scared, you know. We could have watched something else."

"I know."

Ignoring the embarrassment I'll probably face tomorrow, I feel safe sleeping next to my best friend again for the first time in ages.

"Goodnigh, Cami." He mumbles sleepily.

"Goodnight, Seungkwan."


	4. Chapter 4

After that first day of familiarisation, I'm soon put to work as part of my initiation into Seventeen. The CEO wants to watch some performances to see how well I fit into Seventeen as a group overall, in a unit, and on my own, so that's 3 performances in a week. It's the start of my training and it'll teach me how to deal with deadlines. I'm glad that I get to prove myself, but it's nothing compared to the hardships everyone else went through to debut. I wish I wasn't so lucky.

Watching them all dance for the first time is an amazing experience. To see everyone moving in sync makes me wonder how I can fit into such a coordinated group. Maybe I'm the final piece of this puzzle or maybe I'm trying to fit into something that's already complete.

"Well done guys!" I clap and cheer and they smile while breathing heavily. "That was amazing!" 

Once they've all caught their breath, Seungcheol asks "So, are you ready?" 

There's only one answer. 

"Of course!"

 

Seventeen's own take on After School's song 'Bang!' keeps the excitement of the original song and choreography while adding their own twist. As I learn the routine with the support of my new friends, there's so much motivation for me to do my very best. After all, I have to make these guys proud.

Within a few hours, the choreo is branded into my brain. Dancing alongside everyone for the first time dissolves any doubts that have crawled inside me. For the first time in my life, I have this unexplainable feeling of belonging, and I never want to give it up.

The next day is spent working with my new unit. Since I don't have any singing or rapping skills - yet - dance is my strongest point. Joining the performance unit makes perfect sense.

 

The way I see it, each unit comes with a stereotypical personality for it's members, similar to cliques in a high school. The vocal unit are the handsome singing princes, the hip hop unit are the cool, badass gangsters and the performance unit are the energetic, fun kids. You only need to know these guys for a few days for that idea to be blown out the water. It's not all black and white with each person in their assumed box, their personalities flow like water and no one is exactly like people think they are.

With that being said, it doesn't mean the performance unit isn't fun. As well as watching other dancers and choreographers, they take inspiration from everyday life or bursts of randomness. Working with Chan, Soonyoung, Jun and Minghao is a delight. With all the creativity between the 5 of us, it only takes a few days to create an exciting, lively performance.

 

When I'm not practicing with everyone else, I'm working on my solo. A polished version of the choreography I made up for Beyoncé's 'Run the World' a few years back is my choice. I should do more Beyoncé when I have the chance, this song was my jam.

While practicing alone one day, a knock comes on the door of the dance room. "Come in!" I yell past the loud music whilst going to turn it off. It's Soonyoung who's come to pay me a visit.

"Hey!" I greet him. "What brings you here? You know I'm not letting anyone see my solo." 

"Well, actually, as your unit leader I'm supposed to assess all our performances including members' solos." He tells me.

"Oh, alright then, I guess I have to." Really thinking about it, I'm not used to the concept of being watched while dancing. Like, actual people who I can see watching me, not someone watching one of my videos. If I can't dance with just one person watching then I'm really screwed. Getting in my own head isn't helping, I need to focus.

Once the music starts, I forget everything else. Going through the movements and keeping my composure, I feel weightless. Soonyoung's positive facial expressions are a good sign I'm doing well. Eventually, I finish.

 

   
"So how did I do?" I wonder about Soonyoung's opinion. "I'm not going to get booed off stage, right?" Part of me is joking but there's real fear behind those words.

"No! No! Don't think like that at all!" He reassures me. "You were great - you'll probably get an encore, not be kicked off stage!" I sigh in relief. "Also, I didn't need to assess your performance, I made that up. I just really wanted to see your solo."

"Hey!" I playfully punch him in the arm. "It was supposed to be a surprise! Well at least I know it's not horrible." Slightly winded, I sink beside him on the floor and gulp down some water from my bottle.

"It's quite interesting to watch you dance. You have such a cute personality but when you're in the zone, you become a completely different person." His words catch me off guard, causing my throat to suddenly close up and make me splutter.

Did he just call me cute?

"You okay?" Soonyoung shows concern about the fit of coughing and wheezing I break into. 

"I'm fine! Just drank too fast!" I bang my chest to get it out my system, then wipe my mouth with the sleeve of my sweatshirt. 

 

Before I know it, the big day is here. Peering through the stage curtains I see the audience consists of the staff I met on my first day, a group of girls I've never seen before and the CEO, sat in the front row with my parents. I wave to Mum and Dad, Mum smiles and Dad shakes his fist, mouthing "Cami hwaiting!" making me giggle. 

All 14 of us huddle together for some words of encouragement from Seungcheol, before walking out together.

The CEO speaks. "I hope you've all been working hard this week. Now, let's see what you've got!"

"Yes sir!" We shout in unison. 

 

The first two performances come and go without a hitch. But when it's time for my solo, butterflies do aerial backflips in my stomach. 

Seungkwan seems to sense my nerves and pats me on the back. "You may be annoying but you're the best dancer I know. You've got this, kid." 

"Thanks bud." I ruffle his hair. 

"Yep, very annoying." He says while plucking my hand off his head like it's a piece of unwanted gum.

Keeping Seungkwan's words in my head, I step out into the spotlightand the butterflies subside. Paying no attention to those watching and dance freely as if I was by myself.

I'm my toughest critic but that wasn't as bad as it could have been. I kept in time to the beat and did everything has planned. But even with pouring my heart and soul into those few minutes, who knows if I've met professional standards.

 

Tension builds as we wait for the CEO's verdict. Anxiously, I fidget with my hands, wondering what he'll say. The CEO calls for me and I follow his voice, going out alone once more.

"So this is the best you could do?" I nod meekly.  
"Well, you've made a good impression on me, young lady. Of course, you'll still need training before you debut, but you have a lot of potential. You've passed."

My now official group members come rushing out from backstage and pick me up while whooping and cheering before I can even contemplate what just happened. Thankfully, I'm not wearing a skirt, or I'd be flashing the clapping audience.

After my feet are back on solid ground, the CEO and my parents step up onto the stage. He then hands my dad a small, silver coloured ring. Dad takes my hand and slides the ring on my finger as Mum looks on with content. "We're so proud of you." He smiles and pulls me into a warm embrace. 

"I'm very happy to welcome the newest member of Seventeen." The CEO addresses the audience, and another round of applause rings in my ears. We take a few pictures in different poses that show off my new ring, a simple metal piece that finally unites me with my group. 

 

But even with all the joy, I know what's coming next. The week is up and my parents have to go home. "Don't worry! We'll video chat every day, you'll hardly know I've gone." I smush my dad's face between my hands to get rid of his sad pout. 

Mum sighs, "I know these days you can take 100 photos a minute, but we thought you'd like to have some you could hold." She brings out a medium sized box from her handbag, a pastel blue polaroid camera. 

"Make sure you take loads, we can spend lots of time going through them." Dad encourages me. 

"Thank you, I will!" We hug again then Dad turns to the guys. 

"You boys better take care of my daughter. If anything happens to her I'll come straight back and hold you all responsible!" He warns in a surprisingly stern tone. 

"Yes, Mr Bae!" They yell like they're going through a military routine. 

"But you should all celebrate after your hard work, so go have a nice meal. It's on me!" Dad gives me several cash notes and I give him a puzzled look. 

"Thank you sir!" The boys yell again.

"Let's take one last picture before you go." I suggest. One of the girls in the audience offers to make use of my new camera and we get into position. 

 

With the photo and money in one hand, I wave goodbye to my parents as they leave the building, the door closing shut as two figures step into a taxi. 

They're really gone. My attention turns to the photo we took just a few minutes ago, still warm in my palm, recently printed. It's a cute image, capturing all the happiness and glee we ha in bright, gleaming smiles. I should get an album to keep all the pictures I'll take. 

The brown haired, doe eyed girl who took our picture approaches me whilst I'm zoned out. "Hi!" She says while handing my camera back to me. "You were amazing out there! I just thought I'd introduce myself since I think you're training with us. I'm Jieqiong, but you can call me Pinky. You've got somewhere to be so I won't hold you for long but it's nice to have another girl around, the more the merrier!" 

"It's nice to meet you, Pinky! I'm Cami. I look forward to training with you and your friends." We shake hands and smile. 

"See you around!" Pinky then returns to the rest of her group.

"All right." I spin around to face my team. "Let's go celebrate!" I lead the way out the building despite having no idea where anyone wants to go. Meh, we'll find somewhere.

 

"Why are you feeding him? He's barely eaten anything off his own plate." Mingyu asks slightly irritated. 

"But how can you resist that face?" Seokmin shoots another killer sunshine smile and I reward him by shovelling another piece of beef in his mouth. "You don't have to be jealous, I'll feed you too if you want." 

I take Mingyu's own chopsticks and pick another piece of beef from my plate, pointing it towards his pursed lips coaxingly. He can't resist and gives in, munching the meat cheerily. 

"You know you can get tapeworms in badly cooked beef." Wonwoo quips. "Didn't need to know that." Mingyu shudders at the thought.

"Please stop talking with your mouth full, some of us are trying to eat." Seungkwan whines.

Being able to hang out and have fun with friends is something I never imagined myself doing two weeks ago. Now they're officially stuck with me I guess we'll have more moments like this in the future.


	5. Chapter 5

We've all worked very hard this summer. Jihoon's finished creating the title track with our other producers, as well as teaching me how to sing. He says I have a good, strong voice, but that's mostly down to him. Is it really my voice if he found it? With all our songs for the new album now ready, we'll start recording next week.

I've been with Pinky and the other female trainees to hone my skills for the comeback. They've all been very supportive and helpful, just a fun bunch to be around.

With our schedules being so busy, today's the first time in weeks we're all free to have a break. So we're going our separate ways to run some errands and tasks before reuniting for a triple-unit bowling showdown.

Vernon, Joshua and I have banded together to go to town. Really, I'm just tagging along, since I've got nothing to do in particular. 

On the subway, I'm sat between the two. Joshua plays candy crush and Vernon plugs in to some music. 

"What do you like to listen to?" I inquire.

"K-hiphop obviously, but classic American rap too. You know, Chance, Drake, Kendrick." He lists.

"Yeah, American rap is cool and all but London Grime's the best."

"You wanna bet?" He challenges.

We enthuse over our favourite artists for most of the journey. I recommend him some good mix tapes and he introduces me to some new artists. 

 

"Can we go to the music store?" Joshua suggests when we come off at our stop. "I need a new guitar pick." Vernon and I have no objections, so we head there first. 

"He doesn't need a new guitar pick." Vernon whispers to me while Joshua leads the way in front of us. "He's got a pile of like 30, I've seen it." 

"Then why is he getting another?" I ponder with him. The mystery is soon solved when Vernon and I watch Joshua's unneeded purchase from outside the music shop. 

"It might have something to do with her." Vernon deduces that the girl at the counter is the reason for Joshua's frequent visits. We both giggle watching him flustered, trying to drum up a conversation with her. 

We try to put on our best straight faces when he comes out, but they're to no avail as he immediately shoots us a questioning look.

"What is it?" He interrogates us. 

"Nothing!" We reply suspiciously in unison.

"Really?" Joshua prods further. 

"Do you like her?" Vernon blatantly reveals that we know his secret. Joshua fails to deny the accusation, babbling attempts at words instead of actual sentences. 

"You're so cute!" I coo, pinching his bright pink cheeks.

 

Nothing of interest happens afterwards, except a bit of window shopping. The three of us settle in a milkshake bar just before we go to meet up with everyone else. 

"Do you guys ever miss it?" I look up from my drink to my two friends. "You know, America?"

"Not really, I lived in New York until I was 5, so I don't remember much. I'd like to go back one day though." Vernon explains.

"It's the little things, like snacks you get there but not here." Joshua speaks. "Or getting used to speaking Korean most of the time."

"Seungkwan woke me up a few weeks ago, but I was so out of it, jet lag and all that. He was talking to me and I replied, but he wasn't understanding parts of what I was saying, I didn't get it. Turns out I was subconsciously translating his words and answering in English." I laugh at the memory. "I don't know." Swirling my half empty cookie dough concoction with a striped straw, I begin to open up. "This idea's been in my head that, since I was used to Jeju and London, Seoul wouldn't be a big deal since it's essentially just a combination of the two. It's one of the things that made me feel less afraid about coming out here. But I feel like such a stranger in my own country."

"Well, you're still getting used to everything, it's only natural with such a big change in your life." Joshua reminds me. "But eventually you'll see you deserve to be here as much as anyone else."

I smile, taking his words to heart.

 

Reunited with the rest of our friends outside the venue, we book two lanes to ease the waiting time between the 14 of us. 

Seungkwan approaches me with a proposition whilst I tie the laces of my clunky pair of bowling shoes. "Why don't we make this game a little more interesting?"

"Go on." I take interest in what he has to say. 

"If your team gets less points than my team, or vice versa, the loser has to buy the winner ice cream." 

"Alright, we've got a deal." Agreeing to his terms, now Seungkwan and I have more initiative to score well.

We start the match after entering our names into the scoreboard. For the performance and vocal units, the person with the lowest score won't be added to the team's total, to make it fair for the hip hop unit.

No one in our team is a bowling superstar, but at least having played a few times prior, we've got a good chance. 

I pick a ball while Jun has his shot, getting used to the weight so I can have a good throw. Stepping up, my eyes focus directly down the lane. Building momentum, I walk quickly, swinging my arm forward at the end and releasing the ball. Five out of ten pins fall over and with my second shot, three more join them. A good go overall. 

 

With the number of us playing and only 2 lanes, a lot of time is spent watching rather than playing. While waiting for our turns, Soonyoung and I decide to visit the arcade section of the bowling alley. After perusing the many options, we both look at each other, then back to the dance game in front of us.

"You sure you can handle it?" Soonyoung taunts while putting some coins in the machine. 

"Don't underestimate me, Kwon. You have no idea what I'm capable of."

We agree on a difficulty level of hard and choose a few songs. Our steps are perfectly matched, never missing the machine's instructions. But at the end of it all we... draw?

Looking at the screen in disbelief, it's revealed that we got the same amount of points. 

"Let's go again." Hastily I conclude, inserting more coins in the game.

Same difficulty level, different song, result: another draw.

This isn't one of those cheap arcade games you find in the grimy corner of your local shopping mall, no. Judging by the make (and how much it costs for one go), this is as good as dance machines get. So for us to draw not one, not two, but FIVE times? 

To accompany the hilarity of the situation, a small crowd has surrounded us, hoping to see a winner too. We probably would have given up around the third time if not for them.

"This ends now." Soonyoung selects the highest level, ultra-uber-hyper-xtreme. Some members of our makeshift audience gossip about how people have injured limbs on this mode, great.

Everyone counts down with the machine, then the finale begins.

Considering how many rounds we went through before, it's a miracle we both manage to keep up with the arcade game's outputs. My legs move so fast I start to lose feeling in them. After a few extremely exhausting minutes, it's all over. I hold onto the bar behind me for support and watch the screen in anticipation of the score. 

With a ten point difference it's... me who wins the match, and claims the No.1 high score ever on the game. Some people cheer while others hand people money. A little boy mutters while placing a note in a girl's hand and she sticks her tongue at him with a triumphant "Told you she could do it."

"Good game." Like a good sport, Soonyoung offers me his hand and I shake it energetically. 

"You too." I reply.

 

We go back to the bowling game, but everything is already wrapped up.

"There you are!" Minghao is the first to comment on our reappearance. "You guys were supposed to be gone for 5 minutes tops, what happened?" 

"We got caught up with the dance machine, sorry!" I apologise.

"What place did we get?" Soonyoung asks.

"Second." Jun tells us.

"Who was third?" I follow up.

"Vocal unit." Chan says.

"Ha!" My finger points in Seungkwan's direction. "I don't even have to be there to be better than you!" I gloat. "No disrespect to the rest of you guys." Addressing an apology the other members of the vocal team afterwards.

"That's not fair!" He points out. "You were gone for half of the game!"

"Lies!" I object. "I was there for most of it, now get me my ice cream!"

 

Walking home from the bus stop, I merrily lick my three scoop strawberry wonder, smirking smugly whenever Seungkwan makes eye contact. 

"You can have a bit if you want." It's slightly sad to see his disgruntled expression, so I give in. 

He walks beside me slowly, having a small lick, before taking a huge bite out of my treat and running away. 

"Come back here, you weirdo!" I screech, swerving past Seungcheol and Mingyu and chasing after him. "How can you even bite ice cream, what's wrong with you?!"


	6. Chapter 6

Despite it being 6 in the morning, our whole bus is bursting with energy, singing along to songs on the radio. We're really just trying to stay awake. 

The bus stops in front of the high school campus we've been filming at. Yesterday, we shot all the dance and performance scenes that would be used in the music video, but today we'll be recording the main drama features. 

 

Through the early hours of morning, the sets are built and everyone gets prepared to shoot once again. In the girls' dressing area, the makeup artist applies a typical layer of cosmetics to my face. There was no chance of anything in my shade being bought locally, so we relied on international shipping. As much as she tried to match me with the swatches online,  there's a considerable lightening in my skin tone after going under the brushes.

A blazer with my name on the right side matches the pleated skirt I wear and completes my school-girl ensemble. This outfit reminds me that, for the first time ever, I'm actually excited about school. Being in a class with Vernon, Seungkwan, Eunwoo, Yebin and Pinky sure won't be boring.

 

Soonyoung and I are the last to finish up, so we walk together to meet the director. Complimenting each other on clothes and chatting about choreography, the conversation then takes a different direction.

"Do you think I'm ready?" Out of the blue I voice my worry to him.

"Yeah! I'd say you practiced the most of of all of us." 

"I did have to make up for possibly years of vocal practice in a few months."

"And you adapted, because you have a naturally good voice, as well as being a quick learner. Either way, you can only get better - the lines you have are in your range so it's an upward journey from here on out."

"Thanks Soonyoung." His sudden shower of praise gives me confidence.

 

Joining the end of the row, the director briefs us on the music video in front of the school and then filming begins straight away.

The first scene is about Wonwoo dreaming about holding hands with his crush. 

 

"Yah, Wonwoo! What are you doing dreaming about me in class instead of getting a good education?" Shooting a fake disappointed look his way, I elbow his arm as we stand side to side. 

The cameras roll and we both look at each other, hands just barely touching, holding the position until the director orders a cut. I let out a frustration filled scream, then pat him on the back. "Good hustle, kid."

"I'm older than you. And why are you climbing that tree?" He questions my sudden ascent up the botanical feature behind us.

"Because it relieves my cringe." I simply reply, swinging my legs back and forth on the branch I'm sat upon.

 

The next scene is much more dramatic. Vernon is going to grab my hand and like the drama queen I clearly am, I'll slap him. It's not a real one, but it's hard to convincingly hurt him without actually hurting him.

We have to redo the scene so many times that in my tiredness, I slap him for real this time. The scene was going so well that we both went along with it, but I immediately run back to Hansol afterwards, rubbing his cheek and apologising repeatedly.

"It's alright, I hardly felt anything."

 

~~"Then why are you crying?"~~

 

Next, under a basketball hoop, Seungcheol passes me a ball playfully. Instead of passing back to him like the first two times, I take some initiative and shoot the ball at the hoop, stood in a proper basketball player stance when it leaves my hands. The ball falls through cleanly and Coups congratulates me with a high five full of enthusiasm. The director likes my decision and is happy with the take.

"Would have sucked if I missed." I comment to Seungcheol, dribbling the ball aimlessly.

"Yeah, but you didn't." Seungcheol gets the ball off me when I'm distracted. "You did good, kid!" He yells while I attempt to get it back, running around him.

 

Later, I'm swaying side to side with my arms held out, as I walk along a railing wearing borrowed ruby red headphones, ignoring the drop on my right side.

Mingyu appears at the start of the path, taking my arm and straightening me out when I walk past.

After the director declares he's happy with the shot, I jump from the railing onto Mingyu's back, pointing forward to the school.

 

"Onward!" Hitting my legs on his sides signals him to run towards our destination. He holds on to my thighs as I wrap my arms around his shoulders to avoid falling off in the process.

"I'm more of a prince than a donkey, you know." Mingyu informs me at the school's entrance after putting me down. 

"Yeah... you keep telling yourself that." I stand on my tiptoes barely managing to ruffle his dark blue hair.

 

Fittingly, a buffet is being held in the rented out school cafeteria. Everyone takes a break from filming to eat while sitting at the canteen's tables.

"God! That's your third plate, woman!" Seungkwan stares at me in disbelief as I return with another portion.

"Don't foodshame me, I didn't have breakfast. Leave me alone!" He still looks at me with unnecessary shock while I eat, only stopping when I punch him hard in the arm.

 

"Honestly," Jeonghan leans over the table to wipe a bit of food from the corner of my mouth, causing me to grin sheepishly. "I've never seen two people fight so much, are you even friends?"

"Not if he keeps acting up." I glare at Seungkwan.

"Not if she keeps abusing me." He rubs his sore arm.

 

After lunch, I'm sat on a classroom desk as I chat with Pinky, Eunwoo and Yebin while we're all waiting to film the next scene.

"It's pretty laid back if you don't get on the teacher's bad sides and keep on top of the work. There's loads of extra curricular activities, but I'm not sure if you'd have time for them." Yebin sums up school life over here.

"But what's English school like?" Eunwoo inquires.

"Well, it was a very exclusive private school so I'm pretty sure my experience isn't the same for most English schools." The three of them look at me wide eyed after my response and I realise how pretentious it sounded.

"Not that public schools are bad! The only reason I could go was because my mum was a teacher there!" I flail my arms around in panic, trying not to give them the wrong idea.

"But it must have been fascinating, and with cute English boys too!" Pinky giggles.

"Nope. All girls. There were loads of interesting subjects and great facilities but it always felt like that school was more for status than for education. Like just being able to go there proved how much money your parents had. It felt like I was the only one who took school seriously because unlike the majority of students there, my future wouldn't be sorted without it."

Sitting up straight, I tell more. "There was this one girl, a total nightmare. Imagine the most prissy, stuck up person ever then times that by a 100. As the richest girl she was automatically on top of the social pyramid. It was ridiculous. She had her butler with her everyday, solely to carry her 12 Gucci bags. She looked down on people who's families didn't have a net worth over 50 million, so clearly she wasn't a fan of little middle class me. I'm not going to call names but I just can't stand people like that."

"That really does sound like a nightmare." Yebin grimaces. "There's a girl like that at our school, but she doesn't speak to anyone outside of her circle because Google Translate doesn't look good on her phone!" We all burst out in laughter.

On the other side of the classroom, Seungkwan struggles to read a book written in English. Joshua leans over his desk to help him out but Seungkwan shoots him down with a mean look, causing a nervous Joshua to walk away. This makes me laugh even harder.

 

Rushing to use the last hours of sunlight, we film the last scenes on the blue tennis court we danced on yesterday.

I have no idea what we're doing but it's some playground game called 'The Rose of Sharon has Bloomed', it's actually quite fun.

It's my turn at the front of the line and I'm relatively good at catching everyone out. Seungkwan got caught out by my super reflexes, so he holds my left hand at the start of the 7 member long chain I've created. 

Spinning around when the moment feels right it appears that Hoshi has caught me out. Being this close together highlights the deep dark brown of his eyes, almost like they're drawing me in. The gleaming grin on his face as he takes my hand and runs to the back of the line reminds me that we're just playing a game.

But I can't shake off the intense feeling that took me when I fell into his eyes, my heart only just manages to stay in my chest. It's because I'm not used to being around guys.

 

Somehow the guys all talk me into being pushed around in a shopping trolley. Who am I to turn down a free ride? At first, my fingers lace round the wire sides of the trolley in fear of falling out. Eventually, I let go completely, throwing my hands in the air as Seungcheol spins me around with my friends all around me.


	7. Chapter 7

"Bye Mum, bye Dad!" Pressing the red button with the white telephone inside, I end my daily video chat with my parents as everyone waves goodbye. Swiping off the app, I go onto Twitter and look at Seventeen's account.

"Tune in to next week's Andromeda to meet the newest member of Seventeen!" Reads their latest post. 

Nayoung glances and sees what's on my screen. "Is the livestream tomorrow?" She asks. "Yeah." I reply.

"Ah Cami I'm so jealous!" Yebin chimes. "You're going to debut so soon!" 

Yeah, I really am.

Most of the replies to the Seventeen account's latest tweet (apart from 'OMG') were theories of who the new member could be. The most logical conclusion would be that it's a member who was planned to be in the group but didn't make it to debut. A lot of people are going to be disappointed.

"I think I'll make a lot of people angry tomorrow." I admit, rubbing my neck sheepishly. 

"Well that might be true but just walk in there with your head held high and ignore them. Most people won't be that jealous and pigheaded." Eunwoo insists positively.

Pinky holds my hands and looks at me reassuringly. "Everything will be fine. Just be natural, don't stress yourself out." A soft smile accompanies her kind words. 

"And make sure you tell us everything that happens!" Minkyung exclaims.

 

With my earphones plugged in, I tap my feet to Boyz with Fun, as Seungkwan and Soonyoung set up for the livestream. While humming along I look down at myself, baggy hoodies or sweatshirts with shorts have been all I've worn this summer. Maybe I should have dressed nicer?

"We're ready when you are." Soonyoung tells me when he and Seungkwan are finished.

 I give them a thumbs up and Seungkwan clicks the mouse connected to the desktop, going live. For a few minutes they talk casually, the empty seat between the two of them building suspense for my entrance. 

Evenually Seungkwan addresses the elephant in the room. "I know you guys are dying to know who our new member is."

"It may come as a bit of a shock but we hope you get to know and like this person the same way we did." Soonyoung adds, slightly apprehensive, but smiling all the same.

They both signal for me to come so I inhale deeply before briskly walking over and plopping down in the empty seat, making direct eye contact with the webcam. 

"Well don't just sit there, say something!" Seungkwan pesters me.

"Um, hi?" A hushed voice replaces my usual tone. "My name is Bae Cami and I'm 17 years old, that's a good age right?" I attempt a little joke. "I'm from London and dancing is my favourite thing to do. I hope we can all get to know each other and become friends." Ending my short introduction with a polite bow.

The comments go into overdrive, people expressing their shock, excitement, anger. So many say "IT'S A GIRL?!". You'd think this was a live birth.

 

_"She's so pretty!"_

_"Is she Korean? She speaks so well!"_

_"What a cute British accent!"_

_"Is this a joke? How could this happen?"_

 

Comments like the last one aren't as frequent as the first three, but they still unsettle me.

"Let's start answering some questions." Soonyoung gets his phone out to read some of the tweets. "What are your hobbies?"

"Well, I like to dance, as I said. I've been dancing since I was 5 but I started teaching myself after I turned 10. I also like making Youtube videos, photography, drawing and reading." Hopefully that wasn't too wordy.

"What are your favourite groups?" Seungkwan alternates asking the questions with Soonyoung.

"My favourites would have to be SHINee and BTS." I answer. 

"WAIT. YOU'RE A SHAWOL?" Soonyoung practically shouts, bubbling with enthusiasm.

"Yep. My Dad always played Korean music around the house when I was younger so I could hear the language and he got really into them. He told me: 'Now Cami, don't you mind those other rubbish musicians, just look out for these handsome and gifted young men.' So I grew to like them a lot."

"How could I forget how much you love SHINee? You'd always ask me to sing their songs when we were kids." Seungkwan reminisces.

"I also liked BTS when they debuted. Hip Hop, R&B and Rap are some of my favourite types of music so they really stuck out to me with No More Dream, but We Are Bulletproof PT.2 was got me hooked. Really, they're the ones who inspired me to do dance covers because their choreography is really cool."

 

 _"Of course she likes BTS."_ A comment reads _"What a basic."_

 _"And who are you to judge someone's musical preferences?"_ Another replies.

 

"Who do you bias in these groups?" Seungkwan delves deeper.

"Taemin and Suga. Taemin is a very talented dancer and an inspiration of mine."

"Like someone else you know." Soonyoung wisecracks.

"You mean Minghao?" Soonyoung falls to the ground dramatically, pretending to be that badly affected by my comeback.

I continue with my answer. "Suga is an awesome rapper with this badass personality, but he can be very cute too. Taemin and Suga are two adorable people I look up to a lot as well as bias."

 

_"How dare she talk about grown men so shamelessly! Who does she think she is?!"_

_"Why don't you calm down? She hasn't said anything wrong!"_

 

"Alright." Seungkwan starts again "This is the last one before we start answering live comments. What do you look for in a girl?"

 

_"That's it! She must be a lesbian. They wouldn't let a straight girl hang around my boys."_

_"Your boys? You don't own them, they're not objects! Why are you assuming she's a lesbian? If she's straight she's not going to jump on them - she's an idol, not a pitiful sasaeng like you!"_

 

"Do you mean 'like' as a friend?" I try to clarify.

"No, that's boring. The person who asked this assumed you'd be a boy, so I'll change it. What do you look for in a boy?" Seungkwan pries. 

"Um, not much really. Just someone who's kind and/or funny." 

 

Soonyoung speaks up. "Before we start on the live questions, there's some really mean remarks being made in the comments. I don't think some of the things you guys are saying about Cami are nice at all, so could you please stop?"

An awkward silence fills the air. I know Soonyoung and Seungkwan could see the comments too, but I didn't expect them to say anything. It was inevitable that people would react negatively towards me, so I thought this would be the start of me learning to grow thicker skin, but I'm really glad Soonyoung stood up for me anyway.

"Thank you." I mouth quietly in his direction.

"Let's move on." Seungkwan suggests.

 

My toes wriggle inside my sneakers, waiting for Seungkwan to pick a question. "If you had to be one member for a day, who would you choose?"

"Hmm, that's a tough one." I ponder hard. "Probably Joshua, I'd just play guitar all day, he's amazing at it. Or Jeonghan. It would be great to have long hair that wasn't a tangled mess."

"If one of us had to be your brother- who would it be?" Before Soonyoung finishes the second half of his question, I already know the answer.

"Wonwoo. Definitely Wonwoo. I've always wanted a big brother and he's exactly what I'd imagine mine to be like. He's very wise and always gives me good book recommendations. No one really seems to like his jokes except me, how?"

"That's because they're terrible and make our ears bleed." Seungkwan states blatantly. "It's a miracle you're not deaf." 

 

The rest of the event goes rather smoothly, I hope I've opened up enough for Seventeen's fans to like the idea of me joining their group.

A mass amount of people have followed me on Twitter and YouTube, finding my main accounts with speed. It's weird to see my timeline filled with screenshots of myself, I don't even follow any Seventeen fans and people are interested. But this was the response everyone was hoping for, a girl in a boy group is rather unique after all.

 

"That was fun." Seungkwan comments after we log off.

"Thank you guys so much!" I show my gratitude to Seungkwan and Soonyoung. 

"To pay me back, you have to let me show you my SHINee albums." Soonyoung tells me.

"Oh my gosh, yes. Please show me!" I don't hide my excitement at all. "Let's go! Let's go!" Grabbing his arm, I pull him out the room.

"Well just leave me then." Seungkwan huffs in his sarcastic tone.

 

"Dude your so lucky." In our dorm room, Soonyoung shows he his extensive collection of SHINee memorabilia. "I only have Odd because I was able to get it after coming here." I say while handling a light stick. 

My attention shifts immediately when Soonyoung brings out a Taemin photo card. 

"It's so beautiful!" I squeal, holding the sacred object with two hands. "How is he even real?" 

"You can have it if you want." I look up from the picture in my hand, to him.

"I couldn't could I?" But he insists. "Really? Thank you so much!" I express my gratitude by wrapping my arms around Soonyoung, shaking us left and right in glee.


	8. Chapter 8

"Baby it's alright, I'll call you mine." Ending my last line with a bit of rap, Hoshi then sings the chorus for the last time to wrap the song up. Although this will be the first song in our showcase, it's the last one we practice a few hours before.

"I still can't believe you've been hiding this from us." Mingyu is referring to the fact that I'm wearing a crop top, revealing my slightly toned stomach. "You wore all those baggy sweatshirts when you've had rock hard abs under there all this time!"

"What's your secret?" Wonwoo pries. I make everyone come in before whispering "Healthy food and exercise." After which they all scatter in laughter.

"I was just pushing myself a lot with more intense activities and wanted to make sure my body was up for it. No biggie."

"Just make sure you take care of yourself and don't overdo it." Seungcheol reminds me.

 

Later backstage, we wait in our stylish school uniforms.

"Do you think my skirt is too short?" While tracing the tailored end with my fingertips, I ask Seungkwan.

"It looks okay to me." He shrugs.

"Oh well, guess I'll just have to do this!" I flash my skirt up.

"WHAT ARE YOU DO- Oh, haha, very funny. You're wearing legging shorts." Seungkwan only just avoids cardiac arrest.

"Your face!" I hold onto his shoulder while laughing.

 

Then, I peek my head from behind the thick black curtain to look at the growing audience.

All of them seem upbeat and happy waiting for the performance, chatting with friends while holding signs with member's names.

I don't expect much attention until I see a girl holding a sign with my name! She spots me and is shocked, covering her mouth before waving at me eagerly. I wave back, grinning happily. Thinking of the small interaction afterwards brings me more smiles.

 

The hall is filled and it's time to begin. We're lead out on stage to the sound of cheering supporters and then we get into our positions.

The music starts and Seungcheol takes the first lines. From a circle of members, Vernon and I bounce up with his arm around my shoulder. I poke him in the cheek just as he goes "I'm so stupid!"

I thought I'd be more nervous with more people, but knowing they came to spend their time watching us makes me determined to do my best.  We run smoothly, like a well oiled machine, everyone doing the right moves in the right place at the right time. Our reward for performing to perfection is the hundreds of smiling faces cheering us on.

With their support, the rest of the night is amazing. Although I've seen each performance several times, the excitement of the crowd makes me anticipate enjoying them once again.

At the end, we thank the audience for their time before retiring backstage to celebrate a job well done.

 

Jumping up and down and holding and complimenting each other is how we leave the venue to get the bus so we can rest before the fansign tomorrow.

 

When that day rolls around, I wonder what to expect on the other side of the table (well I haven't been on the first side either, but fancams do wonders). 

A much smaller group of people are present for this event, fansigns tend to be more intimate than showcases, so it makes sense. After doing our title track, we also have the chance to do little dance routines. Hoshi and I smile at each other before standing side by side on the smaller stage. 

 

I remember when he approached me while I was putting in some practice at the dance studio, suggesting we could do something for the fansign. Cycling through my playlist, we found that a French song called Papaoutai that caught my interest a few months ago. It was a good candidate with its strong beat and powerful chorus.

The song starts at the pre-chorus and, like it, our movements slowly go up in intensity until the chorus where we go full out. One of us can reflect the other as our actions are equal no matter how complicated, but somehow our individual personalities can still be seen. I've never seen a dancer quite as dynamic as him. He was so creative when we put the routine together, and performs powerfully with precise moves and actions.

 

After the applause, all of us answer a few questions. No one has any for me, but it's a good chance to get into the minds of our fans.

The actual fan sign part of the fansign starts now. All of us sit at a long table on the stage and one by one people start to come up.

 

Minghao and I are sat at the furthest end, with me at the very corner.

"Sometimes our fans want to spend more time with their favourites, so they might not come to the others." Minghao tells me.

"Does that happen to you?" I ask.

"Sometimes, but it's fine."

 

And it does happen to both of us. I guess with us being near the end it's easier for people to walk away, content with having met their faves, not needing any more.

But it's fine because we have each other. We talk and play with some of the other members' toys and trinkets while everyone else is busy.

 

That's how the first half of the fansign goes. After our break, someone actually wants to see me. Minghao and I are talking when someone kneels in front of me. He's a very notable character, a small scrawny frame with thick rimmed glasses and a constant grin plastered on his face.

We talk for a bit while I sign their photo card with a picture of me. I giggle about how it was my first photoshoot and I was worried how the pictures would come out but he says I look great and I shyly thank him.

He also has a present for me. In a little gift bag are some cat ears and a collar with a little bell. I wear the items and say goodbye as the guy leaves, passing by Minghao to exit.

 

It only takes a second of me ringing the bell on my neck for another visitor to come in front of me. The quiet setting of before is thrown out the window.

Lots of people want me to sign things for them and give me gifts and I oblige and act kindly, grateful for the time they want to spend with. They do all seem like nice enough people but they all have two things in common; none of them see any other members and they're all male.

My theory is that since I'm the only girl there might not be as much variety of female members like in a girl group but with only one of me there's no need to worry about choice? I really don't know. I feel bad leaving Minghao on his own again, but he understands that I don't really have a choice.

 

As I continue to be swept off my feet with fans, yet another man comes to me. He looks older than my dad, but obviously I won't say anything. We talk and I sign his paper and then he hands me a large gift bag.

"Look inside." He urges with a grin on his face. I obey and am quite shocked to see it's all lace thongs. 

"Thank you?" I don't want to be rude but that's weird right? You don't give stuff like that as a gift, do you?

"Think of me when you wear them." He whispers and walks away. Um... that's not happening.

 

Before speaking to the next person, I call for a member of staff and show them what's inside the bag. They nod and take it off me.  "Don't worry, we'll sort it." I sigh in relief.

"That guy just gave me a giant bag full of panties." I whisper to Minghao. He looks shocked at first but can't help but giggle at the absurd situation. "Don't, it was kind of scary." I pout. 

"Well, the guy clearly wasn't right in the head but he's probably just some harmless perv, don't worry." I agree with him.

 

This time I'm met with a familiar face, it's the girl from yesterday! "Hi! Do you remember me?"

"Yeah we waved at each other, it's nice to see you again."

Although I do the same things I did for others, I can talk easier to this girl, like meeting an old friend again.

 

"I really admire what you're doing. It must be so hard to have your life changed so  quickly."

"It is sometimes, but I know it's for the best. I'm glad I was given the chance."

"I just wish some people wouldn't give you such a hard time, the fandom is really torn up over you but there's no need. You're a member and you deserve as much respect as any of the boys. But, in some people's minds, you're just here to steal 'their' boys, so they say mean things or ignore you."

"Well, I promise I'm not here for that. I don't think I have in in me, to be honest." We both laugh. "But they've all been very good to me, I'm glad to have them as my friends and band mates."

 

She takes out a little jewellery box and puts it on the table. Inside is a bracelet. "I know it's not much, but I hope it'll help you remember that there's people who have your back." She lifts up her sleeve to show an identical bracelet. 

I smile as she puts it on my wrist for me, happy to know I'll be connected to such a kind person.

 

When the fansign ends and we go home, I still remember what happened with Minghao. It was fine being unnoticed together but if tomorrow is a repeat of today then, I don't want to leave him behind. I have to do something.

On the bus back, I whisper my idea to Seungkwan, who gives me a funny look. I bet he thought I was joking until I handed him a permanent marker back at the dorm.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure you're sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure you're sure you-"

"YES, JUST DO IT."

Hesitantly, he begins to write the script on my forehead.

"You're going to be in so much trouble, but it's your funeral."

"I'm sure it'll be worth it."

 

He was right, our stylist had a fit. She gave me a huge lecture and tried to hide my new feature, but after I explained why I did what I did, she let me off the hook... this time.

I'd been keeping out of Minghao's way for the whole day, so when we sat together again he burst out laughing at my surprise.

Let's just say no one walked past him after seeing "STAN XU MINGHAO" in big letters across my forehead.


	9. Chapter 9

Twirling my bracelet, I stand next to Chan on a basketball court. The organiser's vague explanation of sports with some friends is 50% clearer, it's clear what sport we're playing but the friends part's still a mystery.

Then they arrive, as soon as faces can be seen our two groups collide with cheers and hugs. Cool, It's Monsta X! They did debut around the same time as Seventeen so it makes sense that they're both close. Its best I just stand aside, wouldn't want to intrude.

"So this is your new member? It's nice to meet you." Shownu holds his hand out for me and I shake it with a friendly smile.

"You're covers are cool!" Minhyuk remarks and I thank him. Is this a thing that'll happen often? How many groups seen my covers of their songs?

"Yeah, nice abs." Wonho's comment sends me into panic and I pat down my shirt thinking its ridden up. Oh wait. The part in Hero where you lift your shirt up. I stumble over my words trying to say thank you before I give up, covering my face.

"Aww, she's so cute when she's nervous." Kihyun coos.

 

Now where's that giant hole for me to swan dive down?

 

We're playing basic 3V3 and first up is Mingyu, Coups and I versus Jooheon, Hyungwon and I.M. 

"Don't worry Cami, we'll go easy on you." I'm sure Jooheon is just trying to be nice.

"Doesn't mean I'll do the same for you." I quip back, earning some 'ooo's from the rest of his team.

The game starts and Seungcheol captains Mingyu and I to lead us to victory. Although I'm not big enough to block 3 bulky boys, I'm fast enough to weave through them quickly, either taking the shot or passing to someone. This is my one advantage and it works well.

The opposition converses with me when I'm off court, I'm surprised they'd even want to talk to me to be honest. This means I don't spend much time with my own members but I'm sure they don't mind.

 

"Really? You lift that much everyday?"

"Yup."

"Some mornings I do sit-ups but most of my exercise is from dancing, I think I have more stamina than strength though. But you must be really strong!"

"Yeah, wanna feel?" I laugh at the offer but still place my hand lightly on his arm. Wow, his firm biceps aren't a joke.

"Cami~, come sit with us." DK whines from the other bench.

"I'm talking to Wonho, later~"

 

Gradually we play against bigger teams until we end up doing 8 v 8. Monsta X doesn't have enough members so they get to choose one of us on their team.

"We want Cami!"

"But she's one of our best players!"

"Exactly why we want her!"

I'm being pulled between two sides, literally. Minhyuk is on my left arm and Jun is on my right. 

"Jun be nice! I've played with you guys all this time it's only fair." He gives in, letting go of me.

 

We're in the lead until an unfortunate accident. I think Hoshi was trying to pass to Jihoon, but somehow hit Wonho square in the face.

"Be more careful Soonyoung!" I caution him, placing the staff given ice pack on Wonho's head. 

"It was an accident I'm sorry!" He says to Wonho.

"Sure it was." Jooheon laughs while Wonho glares at him.

 

After the athletics,the music show starts. Backstage it's so weird to see so many people I've only seen on screens and posters, just going about. They're actually real, wow.

Just as I get used to the concept of celebrities casually walking past, the only people who could make me lose my composure walk by.

My reaction is to squeak, then hide behind Seungkwan.

"What's got your knickers in a twist?"

"Aww, look at you trying to sound British."

"Seriously what's up?" I point in the general direction of the 7 guys I've admired since 2013.

"Ohhh, why don't you go say hi?"

I scoff. "Say hi? And risk instant death when I eventually mess up?"

"Well if you're so scared I'll do it for you."

He moves so quickly that before I can even say no, he's already there.

 

My whole body shakes as I watch Seungkwan talk with them, then point in my direction so they all look at me. AT ME.

Taehyung calls me over and I almost die. I come over, saying hello and bowing so many times I think my spine will never be the same.

"Hey! It's nice to meet you." Jimin says.

"N-N-nice to m-meet you too." And I'm stuttering.

I shake hands with all of them, like actual physical contact. 

"You're a really good dancer by the way, we've seen your Dope cover it's great." The rap master, king of badassery, cypher legend Min Yoongi compliments me.

"T-thank you." Say more damn it! Where are my words?

And as some staff call them, the platonic loves of my life are gone, leaving only the memory of those few precious minutes. 

 

Seungkwan turns around with a smug smile, I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him on the cheek.

"That's for helping make one of the best moments of my life!"

Then I slap him semi-hard on the same cheek.

"And that's for almost killing me!"

-

"Don't we all look cute?" My unit nods, agreeing with the pleasing aesthetic of our matching jumpers. 

After featuring in many music shows and doing performances for our comeback, we're about to star on a variety show.

The hosts announce to the future audience, that one of the biggest groups has come to Weekly Idol. They start waving their arms up and down and chanting mansae, our time to come in. "They don't stop!" Both of the hosts count us in one by one until the empty room is 16 full.

We give our greeting to the audience and the two hosts clap.

 

"Ah... this is a nice group you have here." It looks like they're going to Seungcheol, he even holds his hand out. So it's surprising that why walk past him without a glance to embrace Seungkwan. 

"What a fine leader!" Doni praises him with a hearty laugh. 

"Uh, no he's not." Jeonghan states.

"Really? He told us he was the leader."

"No"

"Nada"

"Nope." 

Seungcheol starts laughing and the hosts rightfully go to him, but we all know Seungkwan is toast when we get home.

 

Individual introductions start from the top of our line of blue, black and pink. Performance, Hip Hop and Vocal. The most notable things before my turn were Vernon's small freestyle, Seungkwan managing to embarass himself even more (his 'sexy' look almost made me cry), Minghao showing off his b-boying skills and Chan's MJ moves.

"So what do you do?"

"Sing and dance?"

"But so can everyone else here, what's something special to you?"

"I'm flexible??" That can sound real bad out of context, too late now.

 

I lie straight on the floor to perform a contortionist's simple party trick. I can feel my teammates giggling behind me as yes, it looks like I'm just lying on the floor.

"Stop, I'm not ready yet!"

I shake about, probably looking like a worm having a seizure before going still again. Looks bizarre but it helps. Quickly I bring my feet over my body to my shoulders, securing them under my arms to steady myself. This earns a few oohs and ahhs but the real show stopping moment is when I manage to get up from this position, whipping my upper body round to stand up to cheers and screams.

"If I were a few years younger and a few kilograms less I could probably." Coni pats me on the back.

 

The best part of this is the games we're playing are for toiletries! I thought Mum was crazy when she shoved 5 packs of toilet roll in my suitcase but my first week here proved she had a point:

Supplies are low, we've rationed everything we can. Joshua used the last of the toothpaste and Jeonghan used all of the shampoo. It'll be days till Mum's next rescue package so we damn well better win some stuff.  
Doni and Coni make it look like we're competing against each other but when Hip Hop win some soap or Vocal get some mouthwash we all benefit. 

 

The next challenge we're doing is a mouth-paper-pass game. When it's our unit's turn I assume I'll be the one left out in this activity since Hip Hop and Vocal only played with four. But Doni leads me by the shoulders and swaps me out with Chan in between Jun and Hoshi. 

"Trust me, I'm doing you a favour." Is he really? This particular game could lead to some questionable edits, but that toilet paper isn't going to win itself.

Minghao starts passing to Jun when we're told to go. Jun's rapidly passing to me and I'm struggling to keep up. Lucky Hoshi is at the end of the line and can take his time. 

 

Woah, this card is really thin, I can feel... everything. His lips look soft when they pull away from the paper. Why do we keep on getting in situations like this? I should remember the bigger picture: the toilet paper.

Our unit's efforts win us that sweet sweet paper, at the cost us swapping spit through slimy pieces of paper. But it was worth it? Being on Weekly Idol was fun though, we played some games, got some good promo and have supplies to take home.

 

Hours pass and we have takeout back at the dorm for dinner. Everyone else tucks in but I stir my food aimlessly, it swirls around like the thoughts that refuse to leave me. 

If we took the paper away... we'd be kissing. Would it would feel just the same without the paper as it was with it? I obviously don't want to kiss Hoshi, but I can't stop thinking about it. This is stupid, they're thoughts, they don't mean anything. Probably just an influx of hormones messing with my brain. Puberty does suck as much as it blesses some. It's fine, it was just a game. I need to remember that.


	10. Chapter 10

"Could you hurry up?" Seungkwan's taking forever to get dressed.

"Don't make me say it again."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, a legend 17 years in the making can take all the time they wan- OH MY."

I take the tie out of his hand to wrap it round his neck, but as much as I'd like to choke him he needs to be alive for me to bother at lunch.

"There, can we go now?"

"Yeah, just after I eat breakfast and Vernon and Chan still have to get ready." I fall onto my bed in disbelief.

"Why do you need to be so early anyway?"

"I need to meet all my teachers to know what I'm doing and make a good impression."

I walk past him to pick up my backpack. "Guess I'll just go there by myself." He's heartless, so even my sad pouty face doesn't work.

 

I step in the kitchen to grab a breakfast bar from the cupboard before going on my way. Wonwoo and Mingyu are sat on the sofa in the living room area close by.

"You're off this early?" Mingyu turns towards the door to face me.

"Yeah, gotta meet teachers and stuff."

"I can walk you if you want." A kind offer from Wonwoo.

"You don't have to, I'm sure I can find my way."

"Well, we wouldn't want you getting lost." Mingyu does make a good point.

"Okay then, if it's not too much bother, thank you!" Wonwoo slips on a hoodie and some trainers and then we go. 

 

It's slightly chilly outside. Summer has said goodbye and autumn has started to creep on in its place. Wonwoo's hands are in his hoodie pouch, while mine are in my blazer pockets.

He's an interesting guy, Wonwoo. When we first met, I worried about getting along with him the most since he seemed quite reserved. And yeah, he is quiet sometimes but he tells the best jokes, always knows the best books, and can be a voice of reason. There's a lot of interesting things about Wonwoo and I want to know them all.

"Here we are." It's a lot smaller than I'd imagined. Well, it's still pretty big considering there's more students than in my old school. I'm starting to think most of that space back there was for showing off.

"Thank you! See you later." Wonwoo waves goodbye with a tired smile before making his way back. It's a twisty, turny journey, but it's only 5 minutes so I don't feel too bad, knowing he'll get some rest soon. 

 

When I get to the reception, a kind young lady hands me a map and a timetable and then tells me which teachers to see. By the time I've maneuvered through all three buildings with four floors, I'm worn out before the day has even begun. Eventually, I get to homeroom with my satchel full to burst with notebooks and textbooks, before laying my head on the cold wooden desk. 

"Hey." A flick on my forehead accompanied by the voice of torment himself. "No sleeping in class." I leer at Seungkwan while he takes his seat, but he does have a point, so I straighten myself out and rub the sand from my eyes.

Vernon and Chan come along a bit after, but only Hansol comes in as Chan's a junior in a different class. Then Eunwoo, Yebin and Pinky, who sit in the seats surrounding me. The classroom fills even more, with people and with chatter. 

When the bell rings, the talking dies down as our teacher reads announcements. When he's done, he then brings attention to the new student. I stand in front of my classmates and recite the introduction I'd planned in my head. 

 

As I begin, I smell it. That smell. A kind of smelly smell. The smelly smell that smells... smelly.

 

I ignore this warning omen, simply because the likelyhood of ‘her’ being here is very low. But, in the short space of time before the start and end of my speech, I'm interrupted by the door crashing open and I now know why the reek of expensive French perfume was in my nose

"Late again, Delilah." The teacher drones in a monotone voice.

"Sorry, sensei." She apologises in the most broken Korean I've ever heard, and she does know sensei is Japanese, right?

 

Her preppy smile falls flat when she sees my face. Total silence takes over as we stand off. I'm ready for it, waiting for some spiteful comment. "Oh, hi Cami! Nice to see you again."

Nice to see me? Nice to have her favourite victim back in her grasp, more like. The reason I hated that school so much was her. She was the one who united all the students against me. She was the one who reminded me I was common trash every day. For her, it's nice to see me again, but for me the worst possible thing that could have happened, happened.

"I know we weren't exactly friends back at Rutherford, and I know I said and did some things to you that weren't very nice." The understatement of the century. "But let's start over, who knows, maybe we can be friends now?"

She holds her hand out. For me to kick off now would be the opposite of the good impression I want to make. And she does seem genuine. Maybe, just maybe, she has changed.

"It's okay, that's all in the past now." 

 

Everyone is staring because this all just went down in English. I can see Vernon being forced by the whole class to translate.

 

"So, Delilah's that girl who used to pick on you? Talk about bad luck." Seungkwan states the obvious.

"Tell me about it."

Homeroom is over now and classes start. It goes how you think, school is still school. But it's much easier to learn without constant social anxiety and fear.

"Hey, you're Cami right?" Some girls in the year below come to Pinky, Yebin, Eunwoo and I while we're sat talking during break. 

"Yeah, that's me."

"You're the one who has the dance YouTube channel right? You're really good!" One girl exclaims.

"Everyone loves you around here, we can't believe you're going to our school!" Another squeals.

I guess I just found my channel's key demographic. No one knew about my hobby back home, even when I started to get big. The stats told me most people were viewers from Asia, it makes sense that someone dancing to Korean music would be most popular in Korea.

 

I didn't expect anything like this though. Lots more people come to talk to me: at break, in the halls, but not in class. I guess our year already has their fill of idols/trainees, because it's mostly youngsters. It's a surprise, but a happy one. I'm glad doing what I love brings joy to others too.

"Why are you so popular? We're idols too!" Seungkwan huffs.

I shrug my shoulders. "I think it's more my YouTube channel than that. But I'm not complaining." The end bit's just to wind him up.

Maybe I just can't have a normal school life. I'm either public enemy No.1 or shoved in the spotlight.

"Apparently they're making a fan club." Vernon whispers.

"Really? It hasn't even been one day, gosh. What's so special about me?"

"Well when you think about it, it all makes sense." Eunwoo speculates. "You've got a unique appearance, you're a more than decent dancer and you dance to popular music everyone's interested in."

"I just hope this doesn't get out of hand." 

 

But it did.

 

Classes are fine but things are crazier at lunch than they were at break. 

I wait in line for some food with my friends but as soon as the person in front sees it's me, we all get pushed to the front, despite my refusal. Then the lunch lady asks if she can make me anything special, but I'm fine with what's on offer. 

Then some guys escort us to the nicest table. "Usually Delilah sits here!" Pinky scream-whispers. That can't be good.

There's also a whole line of, for lack of a better word, 'fanboys', standing beside our table as we eat. 

"Does anyone else find this weird?" Everyone nods.

"I don't think Delilah will be too happy about us taking her spot either." Chan looks fearful.

"We didn't take anything! We just got put here!" Yebin makes clear.

"I say we make the best out of this situation, we got the best food and the best spot. That's not too bad a way to start our final year of high school." 

Seungkwan does have a point, but this whole thing is just really odd. So we're the cool kids now? Not too bad. 

 

Everything's going as good as it can, then Delilah walks past and loses grip of her tray, spilling her food all over me.

"Oh my gosh, Cami! I'm so sorry! I don't know what happened!" Her minions pick up what's left of her food while she tries to look shocked. All those guys are giving me handkerchiefs, which is helpful, but I only need one.

I know Delilah and I have had our differences in the past, but I would have believed it was accident despite all that.

Until I heard her snicker when Pinky and I go to the bathroom.

"That was so not an accident." Pinky's not convinced.

"Oh, thank god it's not just me who thought that. I didn't want to seem paranoid." 

 

It's a relief but it's nothing compared for whatever else she'll have in store for me. I experienced Delilah's wrath for years, it was a weight off my shoulders when she left but it always felt like we could never coexist. It was nice being neutral, even if it was for a few hours.

 

"I really don't want an enemy." I sigh, using the ball of handkerchiefs to dab at as many stains possible with tap water.

"She clearly thinks you're coming for her spot, having been the queen around here for so long. She must feel threatened or something."

"But I'm not coming for her! I want peace!"

"Well, she's not going to listen."

"So what do I do?"

"Just don't stoop to her level. We all know she can play dirty, but try your best to keep your head held high."

I'll do just that. The miscellaneous boys ask me if I'm alright and scream when I give them their handkerchiefs back. I stay out of Delilah's way and hang with my friends, (and my new friends who follow me?). So, lunch is alright.

 

The last classes of the day come and go and it's time to go home. I ignore Delilah's death glare when she shoves past me at the school entrance to her chauffeur driven ride home. My new friends don't follow us either, which is a relief. Seungkwan, Vernon, Dino and I say goodbye to the girls when we separate to go to our dorms. 

The four of us plop on the couch and Joshua brings us some strawberry milk from the fridge. "How was your first day?"

"Eventful." That's the best way to sum it up.

After we tell him the whole thing, there's no more time for rest. There's practice to catch up on, then a bunch of homework.

 

The end of the day couldn't come soon enough. Brain and body sore, Seungkwan and I sit on my bed, my head leaning on his shoulder.

"How do you guys live?"

"We kind of don't."

 

-

 

"You think this'll work?"

"Well, it's worth a shot. I can't take this anymore!"

 

Delilah's plot against me has escalated since day one, and it's only been a week. 

First, she tried to copy me by making her own YouTube dance channel, but that was more funny than annoying. Even with a professional choreographer and paid subscribers, it would take too long to get anywhere.

Then, in PE, we were playing hockey. When we came together, she took the chance to whack me hard in the leg with her hockey stick. The teacher did see thankfully, despite her posse calling it an accident, so she was out for the rest of the lesson with a detention on top. That's probably just made her hate me even more.

But the final score was when I got 0% in our first maths test. I had studied so hard and even the teacher thought it was weird since I was understanding the work beforehand. We looked over my test and then I saw that it wasn't my writing at all. The teacher asked me to write a random paragraph so we could compare all the tests. And, would you know, my test was under Delilah's name.

She got called out for it but burst into tears, saying some nonsense about 'I just wanted to do as well as Cami' and 'I didn't want to fail my first test'. So she thinks I want to fail? Messing with me is one thing, but if she thinks she can affect my education, she's thinking wrong.

 

So now, on a Sunday afternoon, Seungkwan and I are sat in a cafe, drinking hot chocolate and scheming.

"So, we make a bunch of anon accounts, spreading hate about you?"

"Yes! Then people think I'm a weirdo or something, lose interest and give all the attention to Delilah. Nothing too bad though, just embarrassing stories, things like that."

We go to an Internet cafe and do just that. If anyone tries to find out who's behind it, it would just get traced back to here.

"I hope this works." Seungkwan and I cross our fingers.

 

It seems to have had some effect by Monday. I hold my grin, hearing everyone talk about the crap Seungkwan and I made up, wondering if it's true.

"So this is all part of the plan?" Pinky doesn't seem convinced.

"Yes, yes! These rumours will stop people being interested in me and they'll go back to Delilah."

 

Two fanboys approach Pinky and I at our lockers.

"Cami, we're so sorry to have heard all this terrible stuff about you."

"But it's okay! We all have embarrassing stuff we don't want anyone to find out!"

"Like how I wet the bed until I was 14."

"Dude, no one asked you to share."

"Sorry."

 

Then a girl joins in. "We all know it's Delilah. That girl has been after you since day one."

 

Um.

 

"Yeah! We won't let her get away with this."

 

But it wasn't her.

 

"Don't worry, Cami, we'll look after you."

 

I don't need looking after.

 

"That's not supposed to happen is it?" Pinky whispers, when we walk to class.

 

I shake my head.

I mean, it can't get that bad.

 

Slam. Our conversation is cut short by the person I least want to see.

"What's all this about me spreading rumours about you?" I keep my mouth shut. "Well whatever loser stuff you're doing, keep me out of it!"

"Hey, you leave her alone!"

"Yeah we all know it was you, Delilah!"

"What are you freaks even saying, don't you know I only speak English?" She tries desperately to get Google Translate up on her phone, but our classmates' vicious words are too fast to keep up.

"Ugh! Forget it I don't care." Delilah tries to storm out of the classroom, but falls when one of the heels on her non-school-uniform shoes breaks.

I try to help her up but she just swats my hand away. 

"Don't touch me. You think you've won? This is what you wanted all along isn't it? Revenge. Now that you're all big, bad and popular, you want to make me pay. Well I'm not that easy to take down. Just you wait, Cami Bae, I'll give you what you deserve."

 

 

"She said that, really?" Jihoon's unimpressed  when I tell the guys what went down, back at the dorm.

"You think she's going to get rid of you?"

"You're not helping, Jun." Minghao scolds his elder.

"But that's what rich people do, they can get away with that kind of stuff!"

 

"If she wanted me dead, she would have done it way before I met you guys. Trust me, she was still worse in Rutherford than she is here."

"Well she'll have to get through us first before she tries anything." I laugh at Soonyoung's words but he's probably being serious.

"I'll be fine, I've dealt with this before."

"But you shouldn't have to." Seokmin states.

I steer the conversation away from revenge plots and we all watch a movie instead.

 

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this, my dumb plan only made things worse." I cuddle into Seungkwan as an apology but he winces, clutching his side.

"It's okay." He doesn't look at me, does he think I'll ignore his actions? Not a chance.

I wait until he's more relaxed to lift up his shirt, and see a nasty bruise on his side.

 

"What's that?"

 

"Nothing."

 

"It doesn't look like nothing."

 

"Can you just leave it!" Out of nowhere he snaps at me, genuinely angry.

 

"Woah okay, no need to lose it." He's never like that, he's never been like that, Seungkwan hardly gets angry, it doesn't suit him.

Something must be up.


	11. Chapter 11

"Was that last recording good?" 

"Yeah, we can wrap up now."

 

I hang up the black headphones and step out of the booth. Jihoon takes his eyes off the sound waves on the computer screen and looks in my direction. "You've made a lot of progress these past few weeks."

"Well, I couldn't have done it without a great vocal coach." I praise him with a playful wink.

 

I'm still a trainee - in some aspects - despite debuting, so working with Jihoon to practice and track my progress through past recordings is helping me improve.

 

"Are you sure you don't know what happened to Seungkwan?" Jihoon brings up what we talked about before starting, Seungkwan was supposed to practice with him before me.

"No idea, it was really weird. We were all waiting for him for 10 minutes, then I sent everyone else home to wait alone and he still didn't show up. He wasn't picking up his phone or responding to any messages. I just hope he hasn’t done anything stupid, I’m worried sick if I’m being honest."

Talking about Seungkwan seems to have summoned him.

 

"Hi, sorry I'm late." I sigh an internal sigh of relief before looking at him closely. His face is covered in bruises and cuts and he’s sporting a large black eye.

"Did you manage to get in a car crash between here and school?" Jihoon shows concern while I rush over to Seungkwan to assess the damage.

"What the hell happened to you?" Is this related to that bruise from last week? There's no way I'm letting him off now.

“Stop fussing! I’m fine!” He says, while looking the farthest from fine I’ve seen him in my entire life. “Just had a not so little accident with some stairs, the thing that’s hurt most is my pride.”

 

Normally I would laugh, but that doesn’t seem right.

 

"Practice can wait, lets get you cleaned up." Jihoon saves the progress on the computer then shuts it down. The three of us leave in a search for first aid.

 

"Something’s going on.” Standing next to Jihoon behind the sofa while Jeonghan patches Boo up, I tell him what I think. 

“Yeah, stairs don’t give someone those kinds of injuries.” Jihoon agrees.

“He had this bruise last week and when I asked he got super defensive. Now this happens and he tries to cover it up all together. Is someone’s doing this to him?"

“He can’t keep things like this to himself. But if there’s anyone he’ll open up to, it’s you.”

Seeing the amount of dried blood and bruises scattered across Seungkwan’s body puts me on edge. This is serious, he has to tell me what’s going on. No more secrets.

 

Jeonghan finishes fixing Seungkwan up, so the four of us turn up at dance practice a few minutes late, Seungkwan’s condition sparing us a scolding from Seungcheol.

In between our group practices, some of us use the break time to finish homework or fit in some studying.

Seungkwan, Vernon and I quickly group together, trying to do the most with our limited time. We get out the books for our respective subjects and get started.

After doing  a few questions, I drop my pen and look over to Seungkwan. He furrows his brow and chews the end of his pencil, staring at a question he’s trying to make sense of.

 

"You know I'm always here for you, right? If anything happens you can tell me."

"Mmhmm.” He doesn’t take his eyes off the paper.

"Did you really fall down the stairs?”

“Yes.” He responds sharply, eyes still fixed.

"I’m not stupid Seungkwan, what really happened?”

"Nothing happened. Why can’t you just leave it?” His short answers have been replaced with ones filled with frustration.

 

“Did you really think you’d turn up looking like this and no one would say a thing? We’re worried about you, I’m worried about you.”

“Well there’s no need for you to be. I’m not a little kid, I can handle my own problems.” He bites.

“But you don’t need to. We’re a team, we look out for each other. Let me help you.” Seungkwan perceives my words as patronising, this makes him snap.

 

“You just can’t leave it, can you? Why can’t you get it in your thick skull that this is to do with me and not you? I’m not a baby, you’re not my mother. I don’t need you or your stupid help.” He bursts with plenty of mindless insults.

“Stupid? So it’s stupid for me to care? It’s stupid for me to be worried when you look like you’ve been beaten near to death? Fine then, since you’re such a big man deal with it yourself. See if I care.” I shout back equally spiteful, if not more.

 

His ‘mature’ response is to throw his books off his lap like the baby he claims he’s not and stomp out the practice room. Vernon goes after him a few seconds after, leaving me alone half angry half shocked at how bad that went.

Things calm down after a few minutes and practice starts again, but there’s a new feeling of tension in the air. Seungkwan and I don’t speak for the rest of the session, but to be fair there’s not much of a chance for that when we’re busy practicing.

 

I try to see where we’re at when it’s time to go back to the dorm, but he walks straight past me before I can say a word.

The silent treatment? Really? If that’s how he wants to play then that’s his own business.

 

“You good?” Wonwoo checks up on me while we walk home. 

“Been better. This whole thing is just stupid.”

“People say things they don’t mean when emotions run high, I’m sure Seungkwan will see sense soon enough.” He tries to make me stay positive. “Um, is that my hoodie?”

“... Maybe.”

“I’ve been looking for that everywhere, could swear it was Mingyu who got his hands on it.”

“But it’s so warm and fluffy.” I exaggerate the light autumn night breeze into a fierce wind as an excuse to snuggle into it.

“I guess I could loan it to you if you like it that much. Between you and Mingyu, I’ll have no clothes left.” He laughs.

 

It’s a strange and lonely week since Seungkwan started blanking me. Once the anger wore off, the realisation of what this meant fully hit me. I never knew how much I really talked and interacted with him until I suddenly couldn’t. So many little things I couldn’t share because they wouldn’t make sense to anyone else. It just hurt a lot.

 

Currently, we’re having our 4th awkward school lunch. This situation has unintentionally split our friend group as he talks to Vernon and Chan on one side of the table while I talk to Pinky, Eunwoo and Yebin on the other.

 

“Well, well, well, this doesn’t look so cozy.” The last thing I need is Delilah waltzing in.

“Just leave it, Delilah.” I don’t want to hear what she has to say.

“Aww, have you two had a fight? A little lover’s quarrel?” She cackles while ruffing up Seungkwan’s hair. He flinches to her touch before succumbing to the treatment, never making eye contact.

“I’m only joking, I know you two aren’t dating. This one here wouldn’t make much of a boyfriend. What kind of guy can’t even defend himself?” With that, her and her posse stroll away to wreak havoc on some other poor group.

 

Her comment about Seungkwan not being able to defend himself affects him as now he doesn’t speak at all. I can’t even cheer him up, for goodness sake.

 

So is there a rumour going around that Seungkwan got beaten up? That doesn’t help things either. Does Delilah know something I don’t? The matter of fact way she said Seungkwan couldn’t defend himself must mean she knows something. Was a brutish boyfriend of hers behind it? Even if Seungkwan’s not speaking to me, I’ll still find out who did it.

But no, that can’t be it. She wouldn’t go out with anyone in this school. I remember her comment about her giving me what I deserve from a few weeks ago, did she send someone on him?

 

He flinched. 

He flinched when she went to touch him. She did this, she’s the one who abused Seungkwan.

 

“Was it her?” I ask, voice shaky from the realisation. Seungkwan says nothing.

“Was it her?!” I shout, standing up swiftly and banging my fists on the table. 

 

“P-please, just leave it.” The first words he’s said to me in a week and they’re filled with fear. His eyes are watering with tears, he’s scared.

Because of what she did.

 

I’m off so quick I don’t even realise it. My heart is racing while my head overflows with emotion. 

 

“I won’t let her get away with this!” I’m making a scene, but it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters because I’m the reason my best friend got beat up. She got her revenge on me by taking it out on him.

Pinky holds me back by my arm. “Cami, no, this isn’t the way to fix this. We can go to guidance, tell a teacher.”

“No. This is between me and her.” I tug my arm away and walk fast and hard, my fury guiding me from here on out. 

 

She’ll pay for this, I’ll make sure of it.

-

“Hey!” I yell, marching along the gritty ground towards Delilah and her group behind the school. She takes one last draw of her cigarette before flicking it away to replace it with a stick of gum, that stupid smug look on her face I want to slap off so badly.

“What the hell do you think you’re playing at?!” Right in her face I scream, standing my ground.

 

“Whoa there.” She sticks her hand in front of my face. “Looks like the little kitty finally grew some claws.” Her friends laugh at her half assed comment. “What are you even talking about?”

“You know EXACTLY what I’m talking about. How dare you lay a finger on my friend you poisonous, demented, psychotic witch!” 

 

“Big words.” She leans into my face. “But can you stand by them?” Her breath reeks of a toxic mixture of tar and bubblegum.

 

Delilah crosses her arms and huffs. “I didn’t do anything. It was self defence, right ladies?” They all nod along.

“Your little friend had the nerve to come up to threaten me, telling me to leave you alone. Isn’t that verbal abuse?” The girls all nod along.

“And we all know how much I hate being told what to do, so we had to teach him a lesson, didn’t we ladies?” They all start laughing, my body starts to go numb.

 

N-no.

 

“So yeah, I did rough him up, but not just once. We really had to get it in his head that he can’t speak to me like that.”

 

He was trying to stand up for me.

 

“He probably loved it anyway.”

“W-what?” 

 

“I said, he probably loved it.” She emphasises her words. “Most female attention he’s gotten in his entire life. Even if it did involve him getting the shit kicked out of him.”

 

I can feel the tears running down my cheeks, my breathing now broken and heavy. I cover my face and turn around to run away, but a sharp pain on my scalp ends up with me yelping and falling backwards onto the ground.

 

“Oh, you’re not going anywhere.” Delilah grinds her shoe into my hair, spitting her gum onto my face as she looks over me.

“You two are just the same, thinking you can speak to me however you like.” The other girls begin to circle around me.

“You thought what we did to him was bad? Just wait until I’m done with you.” She finishes her sentence with a kick to my head.


	12. Chapter 12

I place my palms on my head as a reaction to the burning sensation that’s now radiating through my body. Delilah tries to get another one in, but this time I roll to the side just in time to avoid her shoe.

I stumble onto my feet, trying to back away from her, but the other girls push me from the edge straight into the face of danger.

My fight or flight response is kicking in, these girls aren’t going to let me out. I have to defend myself.

My memory flashes back to the few self defence tips Seungcheol taught me when we were playing around during a break. I’m sure neither of us expected I’d rely on them so soon.

 

_“_ _Always be mobile, don’t make yourself a sitting target.”_

 

I walk around in circles, keeping my distance from Delilah the best I can.  “What are you trying to do? You really think that’ll work?” She scoffs at my skittish movements and makes a few swipes with her cat-like claws, scraping past me a few times. The scratches she leaves hurt less than the bump on my head.

Unfortunately, she manages to grab hold of my clothing, using this as a chance to slam me to the ground and get on top of me, pummeling me with hard slaps and punches.

 

_“_ _Cover yourself, no matter what.”_

 

I hold my arms over my face to stop her damaging that region any more. She compensates for this by directing her hits to my torso.

 

_“_ _Take any chance you get to hit your enemy when their guard is down.”_

 

My knee flies up into Delilah’s stomach. When she keels over, cradling it with her hands, I shove her hard off of me and make a run towards a gap in the surrounding girls, hoping to break through. No such luck, as two of them just push me onto the floor again. Delilah struts over to look down on me once more.

“Nice try.” Her hand grabs hold of my collar and pulls me up by it. “Now I’m angry.” 

 

How dare she.

 

After choking me for what she deems a sufficient amount of time, Delilah passes me over to a member of her gang, who holds me back. Then walks over to deliver what she thinks will be the final blow.

 

“Angry?” Surprised by the fact I can still talk, I take the chance to lift up my legs and boot Delilah with full force.  The sudden action causes the girl holding me lose her balance and hit the ground as Delilah topples into her sidekicks.  I rush over and lift her up by her charcoal black hair.

“You’re angry?” Then drop her on the ground again. The remaining girls try to subdue me, but with my rage now at its maximum they end up falling back from dozens of punches, elbows and kicks. Delilah tries to rush at me, but I instinctively slap her down.

 

“You pompous, manipulative, egotistic bitch!” I scream, delivering a kick with each word.

“You’ve had everything given to you since the day you were born, you’ve never worked or suffered a day in your life and you think you have the right to be angry?”  The roles are reversed as I lay multiple punches into Delilah now that I’m on top.

“I’ve had to put up with you most of my life, never saying a thing. But that wasn’t enough for you, was it? You had the nerve to come after the closest thing I have to a brother?” She only pleads while I scratch and hit, mercy being the last thing on my mind.

 

“Come after me all you want but don’t you EVER come after anyone close to me." I pull her up by her collar, close to my enraged face and gritted teeth.

 

“And if you ever even so much as look at Seungkwan, I’ll show you what angry really looks like."

 

I’m suddenly jerked up by my shoulders.

 

“Get off her right this instant!” A teacher reprimands. 

 

Delilah wails in heavy tears and her friends comfort her too, some of them also crying.

 

What have I done? 

 

 

-

 

 

My breathing is broken and my head feels fuzzy as I sit in the middle of the trio of chairs outside the head master’s office. Students walk past every so often, whispering or gossiping about what I did to Delilah. I never look up though, only imagining their judging gazes.

Delilah is rushed to the nurse, while I’m met with a barrage of disappointment and shock from various faculty members, all in the same vain about there being no room for this sort of behaviour.

 

I never try to defend myself. With what it looks like, it’s her word against mine and who’s going to believe me?

Mostly, I’m fearful of myself. Until now, I couldn’t imagine myself being capable of harming someone like that. Have I always secretly been this violent?

 

Selfish. Selfish. I’ve not even thought about what this means for everyone else. A scandal like this can ruin a rookie group, my friends’ careers could be on the line because of my reckless actions.

 

I’ve ruined everything.

Someone takes a seat on the chair to my right.

 

“Did you use what I taught you?”

It wasn’t the first thing I expected Seungcheol to ask about the situation, but it makes me feel better. I was told to contact a parent or guardian since there wasn’t one on my record. Calling Mum or Dad wouldn’t do much other than get them worried, and I’m sure I couldn’t tell any staff, so my leader was my only option.

 

“Why aren’t you mad?” 

 

“I know we haven’t known each other that long, but you don’t seem like the kind of person who gets in or starts a fight for no reason.”

 

“I didn’t start it. It was her. She’s the one who’s been bullying Seungkwan.” Seungcheol raises his eyebrows in astoundment. "When I realised, it just made me lose it. I was never going to hurt her, I just wanted to know the truth.”

 

I begin to fall apart.

 

“It just happened so quickly. She dragged me in and started on me, beating me senseless. I was just so tired of feeling weak and useless because of her. I wanted to stand up for myself, stand up for Seungkwan, not just lay there and be abused.” My eyes well up.  “She took out her frustrations on someone close to me and I couldn’t take it. But as much as I hate her, I hate myself more, because I did this to Seungkwan. She’d never have laid a finger on him if not for me.”

 

Seungcheol lays a hand on my shoulder as I try pointlessly to hold back my sobs, wiping my face with my sleeve.

 

“You can’t think like that, none of this is your fault. Given the circumstances, you did the right thing. Not many people could hold back in the first place, so any blows you dealt after that girl dragged you into a fight are completely justified. I’m not going to lie, she’s most likely going to spin this around in a way that makes her the victim. But I promise I’ll do everything in my power to make sure whatever the school decides is based on the truth.”

 

The headmaster’s assistant asks for us to come into his office. Seungcheol walks in and I follow behind him.

As expected, Delilah’s already spilt her poison and twisted everything. Turning it into a story of revenge, but revenge started by the wrong people. I tried to explain what actually happened, what she did to Seungkwan. But with what the teachers saw, me beating Delilah up, it’s no good.  Seungcheol gets in frequent arguments with Delilah’s businessman stepdad over who’s lying and it probably doesn’t help that my guardian is only a few years older than me. Worst of all, she brings up Seungkwan ‘threatening’ her in an attempt to get him in trouble too.

The headmaster surprisingly listens to both sides, but doesn’t come to a final decision. For the time being, both Seungkwan and I are suspended for the week. I couldn’t feel worse than I do now.

I trail behind Seungcheol, defeated, as he picks up Seungkwan from his class and takes us back to the dorm. The silence has returned as neither of us say a word.

 

“I’ll be opening up a hospital at this rate.” Jeonghan disinfects and bandages my wounds in the living room, since I never got a chance to go to the nurse. They forgot that I had injuries too. I thank him and pick up my backpack. 

“Where are you going?” He asks.

“To the studio to get some practice, I should make myself useful.”

“You should rest, the last thing your body needs is any more strain.” I shake my head.

“I just want to get away.”

 

When I’m dancing, I don’t think about anything except just that. All my complicated thoughts and feeling are cast away and replaced with simple formulas on how to move my body. The music tells me how to think and feel. 

It’s not so much as a high as a safe place. I can do the same thing over and over for hours, my body can ache and cry all it wants, but because I’m here and not somewhere worse, I keep on going. I can look in the mirror and not see a failure or a waste of space. I’m not me, I’m a character, I’m a feeling, I’m someone on stage doing a dance.

 

“Thought you could use some company.” Soonyoung comes in with two piping hot bowls of ramen, the smell making me realise how many hours I’ve been here and I last ate half a school lunch. He places both bowls on the floor and backs away. I look at him, confused, until Seungkwan sheepishly saunters into the room to sit by the second bowl. 

“Hey.”

“I’m sorry, okay? What else do you want me to say?” I vent in defeat.

“To be honest, I’m not even mad. It was awesome the way you gave Delilah what she deserved, I just wish you didn’t get yourself into trouble in the process.”

 

“Why didn’t you tell me? We could have done something, you wouldn’t have had to suffer by yourself."

“I don’t know. I guess I got this idea in my head that when she was taking it out on me, she wouldn’t take it out on you. It was stupid of me to get mad and blank you, but I just wanted to keep you from finding the truth. It felt like the only way I could be a good friend.”

“You should never think like that! You’re such a good friend, in so many ways. You’re kind and funny and supportive and you don’t need to get yourself hurt to do any of that. You’re one of the best friends anyone could ask for.”

Soonyoung has been happily nodding along and expressing his approval of this emotional exchange, like a psychiatrist observing a session of therapy. He moves his hands from far apart to close, signalling for us to hug.

Seungkwan and I comply and get in close.

 

“Don’t get yourself beat up because of me.”

 

We both look at each other puzzled, before breaking into laughter over us saying the same thing.

Our feud is resolved and it’s just a nice, friendly dinner for three from there on out. Yes, for three. Soonyoung thought he could get away with only bringing two bowls for Seungkwan and I, but I happily share a large portion of my bowl with him, practically force feeding him noodles with chopsticks.

 

When we return to the dorm, Pinky is waiting for me outside the door.

“Oh, Cami, I’m so sorry!” She rushes to console me. “It’s all my fault! You were just gone for so long and I thought the worst, so I called a teacher to go there. If it wasn’t for me, you and Seungkwan wouldn’t be suspended.” She wails.

“But that was the right thing to do. I’m honestly glad a teacher came, who knows how far I would have taken my violence against Delilah? Or, if she was beating me badly, that teacher would have been there to help. Don’t blame yourself Pinky, I’m the one who went up to her.”

“Sorry, I just felt like I needed to say something. Just know we’re all supporting you at school, you’re not alone.” I thank her and we say goodnight, Pinky returning to her dorm.

The next few days are chill. Seungkwan came into school the day after to tell his side, but couldn’t predict if the headmaster was in his favour. We mostly follow around the older members who are out of school, do some odd jobs around the dorm and catch up on notes when Vernon and Chan come back.

But, on Friday, the two come in exhilarated and full of energy, throwing their bags and hurrying towards us. Seungkwan and I assume it’s just Friday fever.

 

“Look! Look!” Chan gestures excitedly to Vernon’s phone.

The four of us watch the video he starts to play. The camera is shaky at first, but after a few seconds pass, the meaning of this video becomes clear.

With the scene I made at lunch on that day drawing more attention to myself, someone must have decided to follow me. As creepy as that is, they managed to record the whole encounter with Delilah. Most importantly, how she admitted to harming Seungkwan and showing that she started the fight.

 

“The best part is everyone’s seen it, including the headmaster. This totally proves you guys are innocent!” Vernon proclaims with joy.

“It sucks that the person only recorded you getting beat up and didn’t help.” Seungkwan huffs disgruntled. 

“Yeah, but what if they were just scared? There was lots of people, it wouldn’t help if another person just got hurt too. In the long run, them recording it helped more than them trying to stand up to Delilah.” I explain.

 

On Monday, Seungkwan, Seungcheol and I return to the school for another meeting with the headmaster. Once again, Delilah’s parents are there, but the headmaster plays the video in question on his laptop for them, they have nothing to say. 

“Now this footage tells a very different story from what you claimed Delilah, were you telling the truth?” Knowing she’s been caught out, Delilah starts crying and begging, claiming she’s the victim. Her parents are so shocked they say nothing while she pleads. Even they don’t believe her.

 

“Cami and Seungkwan, you two are free to return to school. This situation will not affect your permanent records. But, in future, please seek assistance if you are struggling with bullying or harassment.”  We’re free to go and leave, keeping calm civilised faces until we’re far enough not to be heard and we start to celebrate.

 

By some strange sort of luck (most likely bribery), Delilah is not expelled. She is, however, suspended for two weeks, going to move registration class and having an hour’s detention for the rest of the year, so she isn’t let off completely. I think this has made Seungkwan and I bond, knowing what lengths we’re willing to go for each other. A friend like him comes once in a lifetime.


End file.
